My name is Hardwick Longshaft. I am...a
hedge wizard. I hate that name. Everywhere I go, people associate it
with dirty hermits and street showmen.
I was born into a military family. My
father, Helmut Longshaft, was a lieutenant in a low level Duke's
tower guard. I learned the bow early on and even stood watch a couple
times.
When I was 12, I took the guild test
and scored just high enough to earn an apprenticeship with a wizard
of some repute. While I apprenticed, I excelled in the magics of the
wind. My plan was to someday combine them with my bow and make my
father proud.
When I was 16, a local magistrate heald
an archery contest for a large cash prize. I asked my master if I
could enter and was told that wizards do not enter physical contests.
I entered the contest using the name of one of the guards I used to
stand watch with back home. I won that contest...fairly. the
magistrate recognized me as I went to collect my reward and had me
thrown out of town citing using a false name and inciting some sort
of trouble the wizards and king. To avoid starting a war, my master
had me branded a traitor to the tower and the magistrate exiled me
from the land.
I spent the next year begging for food
and shelter before turning to crime in order to survive. I wasn't a
famous outlaw or anything but I made a living. Mostly, I stole from
caravans... I heard about some band of guys who did something similar
in Shertown...or something like that.
One night, I tried to rob a band of
entertainers and was caught. Apparently, they were resistance
fighters in disguise! One of them recognized my branding just before
they left me for the wolves and convinced the others that the
resistance needed more wizards. I was offered a choice; join or stay
there until the wolves came. Tough choice...
I spent the next couple years with this
troupe. We would travel around the land and perform for the people.
Our leader would walk among the people looking for those he thought
might be sympathetic to the resistance.
Eventually, as my power grew, my band
started to gain noteriaty for traveling with a wizard and I was given
a new assignment. I was never good at recrutement anyways...
Now, I find myself on a boat.
apparently wizards are not unheard of on boats because of the
monsters that can sometimes rise up out of the sea...lucky for me.
I am a fighter for the cause that
believes in me. I am a wizard trying to combine magic with bow. I am
a son trying to make his father proud.
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